Ex Cado Angelus
by KayBeth13
Summary: Riley started hunting because she couldn't shut out the supernatural world that had marked her. Will hunts because it's all she's ever known. Now she and Riley find themselves fighting the Apocalypse alongside the Winchester boys. Collab with LinkkinPark
1. Forging New Beginnings

**Disclaimer**, We do not own Supernatural, We do not own Supernatural, We ... I guess that's enough!  
**Summary**, Riley started hunting because she couldn't shut out the supernatural world that had marked her. Will started hunting because she needed closure, but it never came and now her and Riley are fighting against the Apocalypse. Collab with LinkkinParkk.

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Prologue: Forging New Beginnings

**Outskirts of Riverside, Washington  
****November 23****rd**** 2005, 03:42 AM**

If anything, Riley Dante blamed herself for the situation she was in. She never normally allowed herself to be caught unawares, but somehow she had managed to arrive at this party with the wrong outfit. But it wasn't entirely her fault; rumors and misinformation had forced their way into her circuit of information. Guess she'd been too optimistic and trusted that the group at the Roadhouse had got their facts straight. She was cursing herself now, figuring she shoulda gone straight to Bobby Singer.

She groaned as she was thrown into yet another tree, the forest looking more and more blurry as her head cracked off the bark one more time. She slid down to the ground, crumpling as her trembling body attempted to recover from more damage. She rolled onto her side, trying to lift herself up with her arms. Her vision still wouldn't stay in focus as she blinked her eyes again and again, aware that every second she was down, her attacker was heading her way. She winced as she became aware of a hot, stickiness that was spreading across the back of her head, her mind slipping as she looked up at the vampire standing over her.

"Dear me hunter, having problems are we?" he cooed in a condescending tone as he lifted Riley by her hair. She didn't have the strength to struggle, blood trickling down her chin from the insides of her mouth. Instead, she focused her energies on getting her breathing right as the demonic eyes flashed before her. "Seems you underestimated my little coven," he beckoned forward two young girls, both brunettes, both newly changed. Riley had been looking for them hours ago, two missing girls with worried families.

"Maybe," Riley choked out, her hand aimlessly reaching out to stop the tightening grip the vampire had on her hair. The vampire moved, letting her hand fall back down. "You underestimated me," she swung out her leg and caught the vampire, but the move didn't nothing to improve her situation. He only laughed bitterly, pushing her against the tree, his weight restraining her movements.

"Perhaps," the vampire switched holds on Riley, bringing her arms above her head. "I won't make a meal out of you. Perhaps," he whispered softly, his lips brushing Riley's ear. "I'll make you a part of my little family. You are just my type, you little brunette." His lips moved down to Riley's neck and she froze, suddenly afraid. The pain in her body was nothing compared to the crushing realization that she might just become one of the monsters that she hunted. She twisted desperately, trying to get away from the creature who held her.

"Jerk," she spat, trying to kick out again, but he caught her leg easily again, twisting it so that it was near to breaking. Riley's face drained off what little color had remained, her eyes fluttering as her body attempted to shut down and recuperate. "I ... won't ... let ... "

"What let me what? Do this," he dropped her onto the ground and pinned her down with his knees, not that it was necessary. Riley could hardly move, her chest heaving in sharp bursts as she desperately tried to get enough air. The vampire smiled, before leaning forward and dragging her arm towards himself. He brought his nail to her vein, getting ready to cut her and bleed into her. Riley couldn't move, couldn't speak, but she could see, and her eyes widened as something silver flashed in the moonlight. Something sharp, and heading straight in their direction.

The vampire didn't have time to react to the threat that had snuck up on him and killed his latest trinkets, too focused on Riley to have paid attention to his surroundings. Instead, he snarled, twisting around just as the machete cut into the soft flesh of his neck. His snarl turned into a gurgling choke as blood began to flow into his mouth, out of his wound, and down onto Riley who was watching with a mixture of horror and relief. Her saviour held the vampire's neck back, cutting through the tendons, finally letting the head roll to one side.

Riley turned onto her side the moment she saw that the other hunter, friend or foe she wasn't sure, was almost done with her attacker. She wasn't planning on sticking around long enough to know why the person had saved her ass, nor was she planning on leaving herself open for anymore attacks. She crawled forward, wincing as her bones seemingly ground together and her open wounds met hard stones.

She didn't get far before falling forward and succumbing to the wave of pain that washed over her. She felt her vision start to go, the edges tinged with darkness as her mind made a mental note of all her injuries. Broken ribs, maybe; concussion, most likely; sprained ankle, yup. She held her nausea down as she moved her wrist, trying to find if it was broken at the same time as trying to find a weapon she could fight with. Neither did her any good and she closed her eyes.

"Are you alright?" came from behind, a soft female voice she noted. She felt hands gently probe her chest, and shuddered violently from the sudden sickening pain that clenched around her throat. Bile rose and she turned away in time to throw up what pathetic little she'd eaten earlier. "That bad huh?" Riley tried to ignore the concern that was in the woman's voice, knowing that if she was aware how bad her situation was, she'd probably shut down completely. She knew she needed to stay awake, stay with it. And she still didn't trust the other "hunter", whoever it was.

"Just call 911 and leave. I don't need you here to look after me," Riley managed to snipe, her hand finally finding a suitable weapon: her discarded dagger that had fallen from her back pocket when she had been thrown the first time. She swung around in a feeble attempt at self-defence and almost screamed when a hand stopped her, closing around her wrist as softly as possible, but with enough grip behind it to let Riley know she wouldn't get much further if she tried to attack again. "Dammit, why won't you leave?" she groaned.

"You're hurt," was the simple, blunt reply. One that Riley wasn't expecting. "If I call 911 and leave, you'll die. Therefore, you need me to drive you to ER in the car I stole half an hour ago. See the sacrifices I'm making for you?" Riley hated how reasonable the woman sounded. She was feeling immature and childish and didn't want someone to point out all the flaws in her concussed reasoning. She pouted unconsciously as hands began to move her onto her feet, the movement stopping every second or so to give her time to catch her breath or whimper. "Right, my car ain't far but there's only one of me, so you're gonna have to limp. Brace yourself kiddo," she added.

The first scream was the loudest, and caused the other hunter to flinch as it went straight in her right ear and left her head ringing for moments afterwards. After that first scream, Riley managed to quieten down to a choked mess of cuss words, mostly "sonovabitch" blurred into one hiss that seemed to work as an acceptable pain killer, at least until Riley could find some damn pills and down them with something stronger. She hated the way the other hunter laughed at all the cuss words that tumbled from Riley's mouth, but at the same time it was comforting to hear and know that someone else stood close by, watching.

"Please don't bleed on this car, I need to take it back after I've finished up with you," Riley was lain down carefully on the back bench of the car. Riley narrowed her eyes up at the woman, whose blond hair was the only thing that Riley could make out.

"Sure, I won't bleed on the leather seats. Lemme just stop the blood flow 'round my dying body. You idijit," she added with venom.

The other woman grinned, and muttered something quietly. Riley heard and immediately relaxed slightly, but was too weak and tired to respond.

"Man you sounded like Bobby just then," she said, with a quiet chuckle, before she turned and shoved her foot onto the gas pedal, but Riley didn't make a sound. She was already unconscious, her heart rate slow and uneven as her hand fell limply onto the floor.

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**Riverside, Washington**  
**November 28th**** 2005, 4:57PM**

"I w't m' c... lemme 'av m' c... "

"Shuddup, unless you want to damage yourself even further."

Riley blinked, before trying to swallow, only to find a breathing tube was in her mouth. She choked, crying out, as her hands desperately tried to get rid of it. Cool hands pressed against her hot ones and stopped her from doing serious damage to herself as she tried to breathe for herself. Her lungs felt like they were on fire, her chest as if an iron cage had been wrapped around it. She stopped moving, letting her heart return to a reasonable beat, her eyes squinting against the blinding white light that glared down at her.

"Wh' mm I?" she tried to ask, her mouth not able to move around the tube. She felt a different set of hands start to remove it.

"In hospital," the voice sounded familiar, but Riley was sure that she hadn't heard it on friendly terms before. Then her memories surfaced, crashing down on her already aching head. She remembered the hunt that had gone wrong, the hunter who had saved her, the injuries, the walk to the car and then nothing. The nurse stepped back and Riley turned to her left to stare into a pair of bright blue eyes. "You've been here for five days sis," she added as the nurse smiled on condescendingly.

"Sis?" Riley raised an eyebrow as best she could, looking at the women she had tried to kill a few days earlier. The nurse missed the sarcastic questioning in Riley's voice and nodded to the woman who had brought her in, before leaving quietly. "Well." Riley looked at the hunter. "I guess I owe you an apology and a thank you. But first, let me get the things outta the way that would destroy both. Why the Hell are you still here?"

"I, uh, I erm, I was worried about you. You were in a pretty bad state," the blond said quickly, in a rushed voice. Her cheeks started to tinge a little pink and Riley felt a rush of affection towards the girl. "If you want me to leave." She started to rise.

"No, I wanna know your name." Riley reached out and cringed when she saw her badly scraped hand. "I wanna know why you saved a random, dangerous hunter's life when you coulda just left. Most other hunters I've met woulda left. Why didn't you?"

"I'm in this to save people's lives, regardless of if their hunters or not, and what would I have really gained if I had left you to die? Nothin' but a whole lotta guilt, and to be honest, it's not something you want when you need to always be focused. And my name is Will. Will Taylor," she added, a slightly defensive glint in her eyes. Whoops, Riley thought, she's thrown up her barriers against me now. Guess I shouldn't have been so brass.

"Will?" she asked with a genuine curiosity. "What's that short for? Or did you change your name when you became a hunter?" She sat up a little, wincing from a dull ache that managed to peak around the base of her spine. She saw Will's eyes widen a little in worry but Riley let that slide.

"It's short for Willow. Willow Elizabeth Taylor is my full name. And why would I change my name to become a hunter? I was raised into this," Willow replied.

"Wow." Riley leant forward in awe. "I've heard about hunters who were born and raised into this as children but I've never met one before. How'd you get into hunting then Willy?"

"Willy? Really?" Will's eyes narrowed in pure annoyance at Riley and she grinned cheekily.

"What's wrong? Embarrassed? Don't like to be associated with willies?" she said childishly, glad to have a chance to exercise her tongue on someone. It had been a long time since she'd had a conversation with anyone and she had missed the company another person could bring.

"No," Will replied defensively. "It's just childish and immature, is all," she shrugged, her messy ponytail flicking back in an equally nonchalant movement. Riley grinned wider.

"Willy, willy, willy, willy," she sung in an off-key tone, jiggling a little in her bed in time to the beat she had created. Willow leant forward to punch Riley in the arm, who stopped to wince.

"Stop exaggerating. Anyway, you haven't told me your name yet," Willow said, leaning back in her seat to stop Riley from retaliating. Riley wasn't stupid, she knew full well that Will was avoiding the subject of how she came into hunting, but just this time she kept her mouth shut and let it drop. Instead, she covered the sudden awkwardness with her witty humour.

"You making a move on me sweetheart, cos for sure I don't bat for that team," Riley winked provocatively. "My name is Riley Dante, I'm twenty-one and I've been hunting since I was nineteen. It's a long story but I was not raised into it like you. And, I wanna know when I can check out of here and get back to my job."

"Not likely Miss Dante," Willow answered. "You need to stay in for obs. You were pretty mashed up back there. Three broken ribs, sprained wrist, deep cuts, concussion, the works. You need to rest and recover."

"R & R can wait, I need to check on my baby." Riley looked towards the window, suddenly worried.

"What baby? Do you have a baby? Why are you hunting if you have a baby? Or do you mean boyfriend? Does he hunt with you?" Will asked in one long breath, not pausing or hesitating.

"Wow, do you ever shut up? And no, no, no and no to all of the above. I mean my bike. I wanna know that my bike is alright," Riley said.

"You ride?"

"No, I just carry it around with me in my backpack whilst I hitchhike everywhere. Course I ride it," Riley snorted.

"Whatever. So you hunt alone?" Will suddenly looked interested in the floor, her boyish defences dropping onto the table. Riley cocked her head to one side, wondering why the sudden change in temperament.

"Yeah, I wish I didn't, but none of the other hunters are interested in pairing up, 'specially not with a girl. And there's no way in Hell that I'd drag anyone else into this life. Whadda 'bout you? Hunt with your parents. Mom? Dad?"

"My Dad's out there somewhere, hunting. We split, because we had different reasons for hunting. We're still on good terms, just not as close as we once were, when we were a family. Hunting does that to you. It changes you and breaks what you once had so you can't ever go back. Nothing in the world could fix us. We're marked." Willow seemed wistful and distant and Riley felt a pang of sorrow for her.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I know that I can't go back, but it's better that way. At least I know my family is intact. Even if I'm not a part of that. It always makes me feel better, knowing that my Mom and Dad and brother are together, even if they think I'm dead. I guess we're both kinda like shadow fighters," she whispered.

"Shadow what?"

"Fighters, I guess. There was this book I read once, I can't really remember the title, but it said that once you've been touched by Death or evil, you become Shadow Kissed. I mean, it was a fictional book and all, but it made sense. Because once you're Shadow Kissed, you can't escape. It's like a beacon, pointing out what you've seen, and you see it everywhere. How can you not act, knowing that other people are in danger of becoming what you are, or becoming hurt?"

"Good ol' Vampire Academy," Will stated and flashed a grin at the surprised look that appeared on Riley's face. "What? You don't think I enjoy reading in between hunts?"

Riley looked back down at the bed and began drawing patterns lazily on the blanket. Willow watched the young woman in front of her and the way her eyes darkened and saddened. She watched as she clenched her hands closed tightly, her veins sticking out against her pale white skin. She felt the same, and she knew that she couldn't carry on alone.

"I'm sorry for whatever happened to you Riley," Will murmured. "I guess we've both been kissed by the shadows."

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**Authors' Notes**

**LP**: So, here is my first attempt at a multi-chaptered_ Supernatural_ fanfic, complete with plot, and it is a collab with the talented **Kerryyuy**! My bestest bud. Anyway, there aren't enough decent hunters in the SPN world and this is our ploy to redeem that, by creating two kick-ass hunters, who I hope you'll fall in love with. Stick around and be rewarded with Winchesters!

**KY**: Hey! Yup, ANOTHER _Supernatural_ story, but this time I am writing with someone else and I have the greatest honour in working with: **LinkkinParkk**. Not only is she an amazing writer, she is also my best friend, and I cannot wait to see how our 'unique' minds come together for this - all I can say is chaos is likely to follow!


	2. Makin' Teamwork Look Hard

2: Makin' Teamwork Look Hard

**Boulder, Colorado  
May 5th**** 2006, 12:59 AM**

"Behind you!"

Will turned and had to immediately duck as the spirit made a grab for her. She stood up to see that once again, the damn thing had vanished before she had a chance to shoot at it. She groaned in frustration and turned to face Riley.

"Crap! Riley, duck!"

Riley immediately dropped, the bullet fired from Will's gun skimming the end of her ponytail that had momentarily risen as she hurtled down towards the ground. She cursed as she glared up at her blonde counterpart, who just shrugged, grinned and helped her up off the floor. Silently, they returned to trying to locate the grave of said spirit. It was Will who finally found it, just not in the most elegant of manners. Riley had asked her something, and she'd turned to answer, stepping backwards and tripping over a tiny headstone that was almost completely hidden from sight. She'd crashed to the floor with a small yell. Riley had quickly turned to see what was wrong, and had found herself bursting out laughing as she saw the other hunter lying on the floor, glaring up at the sky and mumbling faint curses softly under her breath. Will had heard the laugh and turned her head slowly to continue glaring at the other woman.

"Yeah, you can laugh missy, but thanks to me falling, we've actually found the damn grave, so get over here and do something useful." Will called out.

Still chuckling, Riley moved over and crouched in front of the grave, reading the almost invisible writing and discovering that yes, it most definitely was the right one. Will gave Riley a disbelieving look before picking herself up off the ground and standing next to the grave. She nudged Riley, who overbalanced and found herself sitting down on the wet ground.

"What the hell? Now my ass is all wet you bitch!"

"Yeah, well next time your best friend is lying on the floor, give her a hand, huh?" Will responded.

She grinned at Riley to show that there were no hard feelings, and Riley sighed slightly in defeat before managing to half-smile back. Will turned back to the grave and frowned as she picked up a shovel. Now came the fun part. The pair of them spent the next two hours digging, and just when Riley thought her back was about to snap in half, she heard something actually crunch underneath her. She grinned triumphantly and Will rolled her eyes sarcastically.

"C'mon, let's just get this over with already" she moaned

"Yeah yeah, hold your horses" Riley grumbled back.

Will just shrugged nonchalantly and started to collect their stuff from the bottom of the grave. She threw them back up to Riley before preparing herself to jump. Riley looked down and grinned again.

"You sure you'll be able to reach there, shorty?"

Will growled, suppressing the urge to reach for her salt gun, quickly deciding against it. She took a small jump and grabbed the edge of the hole, pulling herself out of it. Riley had stopped grinning at that point, but just by the expression on her face, Will knew that inside she was still laughing. Without saying anything, she punched the taller woman in the arm. They were quick to salt and burn the bones, both of them surprised that the spirit hadn't returned to stop them. Riley guessed that maybe he actually wanted to move on, but hadn't known how to express himself. Will didn't say anything, just grabbing the bag and moving back to the car. Something she always did after every hunt. She never stopped to discuss a hunt, just did the job and moved on, like she'd always been taught to do. Riley didn't know this though, and on more than one occasion felt frustrated by her friend's lack of emotion when on hunts.

Will threw the bag in the back of the car, and gave Riley a look that clearly told the younger hunter to get her butt in gear and move. Riley shook her head in amusement, but moved anyway, not wanting to get on Will's bad side. She knew the woman had a temper on her, and wasn't about to risk her life over something as trivial as getting in a car, even if said car was virtually the other hunter's whole world and contained almost everything she possessed.

They returned to the shoddy motel they were booked into, but at that moment, neither hunter cared about the state of their beds, just that there was a bed for each of them to collapse onto; which is exactly what they did. Riley was the first to get into her bed and almost as soon as her head hit the pillows, she was in a deep sleep. Will shook her head in amazement, before moving into the shower. Once she was done, she spent a few more minutes getting ready and setting up the barriers of salt lines before sliding into her bed. For a while, she stared up at the ceiling, wishing sleep to claim her, but as with every other night of her life, an hour later, she was still wide awake even though she was so exhausted and desperate to the point of crying to be able to sleep. After a few more minutes, she gave up on sleep and dragged herself back out of bed. She pulled her laptop out of her bag and moved into the bathroom so that she could turn the light on without waking her partner up in the process. She opened it, and was extremely surprised to find that for once, they'd actually managed to get into a room that had working internet access. She punched the air in triumph before logging on and checking her emails. She only had two, one from Bobby '_No surprises there_' she thought to herself. The other one though, did surprise her immensely. She opened it and grinned as she read it.

* * *

From: Samantha  
To: Willow

_Hey Will,_

_I just wanted to make sure that everything's alright with you. I hear you dropped out of college too. I'm back with my brother again, and things between us are pretty much back to normal, although I'm not sure if that is a good or a bad thing to be honest. Anyway, let me know that you're ok and hopefully I'll see you soon._

_Love Sam_

_

* * *

_

Will smiled, holding back a few tears that rose from missing her old friend greatly. She checked her email from Bobby, not surprised in the least to see that he was just checking that his 'two favourite girls' were doing okay. She chuckled and replied to let him know that they were fine. Afterwards, she played a few games of solitaire before finally deciding that her mind had shut down enough for her to sleep. She dragged herself to bed and collapsed on it, drifting off into a heavy sleep a few minutes later.

The next morning, Riley woke bright and early at six o'clock, which was normal for her. She showered, dressed and shuffled around for over an hour as she readied herself for the day ahead, and laughed as she looked back and found that the blonde hunter hadn't even stirred. Looking around the room and seeing the salt lines, the laptop that hadn't been closed properly, the bag lying open and the hunter that was still dressed, told Riley that Will had yet another bad night's sleep. Will was one of these people that while she was asleep, a bomb could go off and she wouldn't notice, but then after a while, her senses would come back on high alert. When she had a good night's sleep, the slightest noise after about five would wake her up. On a bad night, she'd still be in the state of virtual comatose up until about ten, before finally waking long enough to realise that she'd almost missed the whole morning and was running late.

Will woke up to the smell of coffee that had filled the room. She scrunched her nose up and sat up, frowning at the offensive cup that was the source of the smell. Riley sent her a sly smile and blew some of the steam in her direction, making her frown turn into a glare. Will groaned and dragged herself out of bed, blearily stumbling over to the second cup on the table that contained her cinnamon hot chocolate. She took a sip and closed her eyes as she revelled in the sweet chocolaty taste, and it was now Riley's turn to scrunch her nose up, unable to understand how anyone could stand drinking something so sickly sweet within minutes of waking. Will smirked and moved over to her bag, rummaging through it and grabbing a clean set of clothes and throwing them on. Then, she rushed to brush her hair and teeth, collected her things together and put them in the car. As usual, Riley was amazed at how she took nearly an hour to get ready in the mornings, whereas Will was more of the get up and go type, always ready to go within minutes of taking that first sip of hot chocolate. Once, just to try and find if it was the chocolate that gave the blonde her energy, Riley'd had the same drink one morning, but regretted it as she spent the rest of the day feeling incredibly sick. That instantly ruled out the hot chocolate, and led her with the decision that it was just how Will functioned, as crazy and strange as that was.

As they got into the car, Riley turned to face Will.

"So, were are we heading?"

Will turned to grin at her, and instantly, Riley had a feeling that she was either going to love or hate what the response was.

"Well, firstly I was thinking of staying in Colorado for a few more days, take a break, maybe go on a few horse rides up the mountains or something?"

Riley froze at that and turned to Will, a look of slight panic on her face.

"Horses? As in real live horses?"

"Well, I didn't exactly mean unicorns. Horses. Yes, H-O-R-S-E-S."

Riley gulped slightly. She wasn't scared of horses; it was just that she'd never actually ridden them before. The thought that her first time on a horse would be while she was on a mountain that could be extremely dangerous wasn't exactly reassuring her, and while on the outside she agreed to take the break, on the inside she was panicking ever so slightly. Will could see how nervous she was and gently patted her leg.

"I'll be with you the whole time. I promise, nothing will happen to you"

After booking into a half decent motel for once and spent the rest of the day relaxing, they went to bed early. The following day, the pair of them drove up to a riding stables, and before long, they were off up the mountain with a tour guide to accompany them. Riley actually found herself relaxing and enjoying the ride and it helped that the horse she was riding was very even tempered and happy to just walk, even when Will's horse suddenly decided that it wanted to go for a bit of a canter. That took Will by surprise, but only for a second as within a few seconds, the horse was calm again. Riley fell behind a little bit, but was content to do so, enjoying the scenery around her and glad for once that they were doing something purely for themselves. It was a little selfish to be having a break knowing that there was probably a hunt out there, but at that moment, all that was on Riley's mind was the happiness she felt at having a break.

The happiness didn't last too long though. Out of nowhere, a small animal jumped out from behind a bush, causing the horse she was on to panic. She grasped hold of the reins as hard as she could, and the horse bolted forward, galloping past the guide and Will. Riley let out a terrified scream, and Will was quick to go speeding after her. She caught up relatively easily and leant over to grasp one of the horse's reins. When she missed, she shouted to Riley to move her foot out of the stirrup and as she did, she swung her own foot into it and moved so that she was now sitting in the saddle in front of Riley. Riley looked at her in shock, wondering how the hell she was able to do that. Will's face was set solidly and she gazed seriously at the road in front of them, seeing that a drop was approaching them, fast. She pulled on the reins and the horse slowed down, eventually stopping with a jolt just before the drop. Riley quickly scrambled off the back of the horse and Will went to follow when the horse suddenly bucked, knocking Will over. She felt herself go back, and threw her arm out to stop it, screaming in a panic when she didn't feel any ground there.

The guide arrived at that minute and both he and Riley watched in fear as Will dropped from view down the drop. Riley ran forward, her heart in her mouth as she looked over the ledge, expecting the worst as the guide radioed for help.

Fortunately though, the drop wasn't as big as it looked. However it was big enough that Will was lying on the ground trying to get her breath back, her arm curled underneath her and blood from a cut on her forehead steadily dripping down her face. Her eyes were scrunched closed in pain, and each breath she took felt like fire was flowing through her body. Shakily, she managed to sit up and immediately felt an agonising pain in her arm that made her cry out.

"Will! Are you okay?" Riley called down.

Will looked up and grinned, although it came out as more of a grimace.

"Well, you know I promised that I wouldn't let you get hurt?"

Riley nodded, and inside, she couldn't have been more grateful for what her friend had just done for her. Will continued.

"Well, I definitely kept that promise. The only problem though is this…"

She carefully pulled her shirt sleeve back and hissed. Riley went pale, then green and disappeared for a few seconds. Will winced as she heard the sounds of the other hunter vomiting, and couldn't help but pity her. Riley never was very good with gory things, even though she faced them most days. She had to admit though, the sight of seeing a bone sticking out of her arm did make her feel slightly light headed, and the cut on her head wasn't helping the situation. She sat down heavily, only nodding to the tour guide when he told her that there was an air ambulance on its way.

Later that day at the hospital, Will felt her phone vibrate but didn't answer it. She knew it was Bobby, but she'd only been out of theatre for a while and at that moment, she just wanted to sleep. She glared at the cast on her arm before sighing and turning her head to one side, not bothering to wipe away the single tear that rolled down her cheek as she fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

**Author's Notes**

**LP**: Hey! We figured it was time for an update and since we were together, it seemed like a good time to do this. Kudos for this chapter goes completely to **Kerryyuy**, who thought up the ideas and wrote it. You'll soon learn the differences between our writing styles! Anyway, I threw some ideas here and there and **Keryyuy** did all the hard work. Hope you enjoy it!

**KY**: What she said! ^.^ Just 'cos I'm too drained from writing to say anything more. Enjoy!


	3. In Between Two Places

3: In Between Two Places

**Phoenix, Arizona  
July 11th 2006, 11:34 PM**

If the heat had been stifling, the bitter coldness of the night was even worse, thought Riley. She wanted nothing more then to get out of this crappy rundown house and back to the crappy rundown motel where she could at least huddle under the covers of a bed. She shivered viciously at the thought of the cold, making sure her shotgun was still covering Will's back as she bent over the summoning ritual she was preparing. It was a dangerous game, summoning the demon to them, but Riley hadn't been able to come up with a reasonable argument to stop her best friend. Will was here to do the job and if that meant summoning a demon, she'd do it. Saving people was her main priority, and time wasn't always a luxury they had. Come to think of it, many things were luxuries they didn't always have such as decent beds, food and boyfriends like normal people their age would have.

As much as Riley wanted to save people, her philosophy was that they themselves were no good dead. If they were gonna save people, they would be better off taking care to cover their own asses and make sure nothing got the jump on them. She had a slight apprehension and wasn't as gun-ho as Will. But as Will said, the longer they waited, the higher the number of casualties. Riley shivered again, but this time it was nothing to do with the cold. She had a feeling they were playing right into the witch demon's hands, and her finger loosened a little in preparation for a fight.

Just as that thought was born, Riley noticed a shadow cross the broken window and she instinctively fired a round towards the area. Will looked up, startled as Riley ran to the window, poking her head out to see what was going on. A scream of panic came from somewhere outside, and Riley backed away, turning to give Will a worried look. Will just gazed back with a determined glint in her eyes and Riley sighed, returning to her vigilante. Before she had even placed her next step down on the floor, she was flying through the air and crashing into an old table. The wood splintered and gave under her weight, pieces of the old wood digging into her back as she tried to get the wind back in her lungs.

She rolled over onto her side, getting back up, her hand reaching for her discarded shotgun as Will's chanting changed from summoning to exorcising. Riley followed Will's eye line to see a cocky woman leaning on the doorway, a frightened man standing next to her. Riley found her gun and fired another round into the demon, but it disappeared before the rock salt even had time to disperse into the air. She growled, making sure Will was still alright, before getting to her feet. She heard something creak behind her and swung the heel of her gun around, knocking the demon into the wall.

After a moment's hesitation where the demon regained its balance, both women raced forward and met each other. Riley threw a fist that caught the demon's face, her other hand reaching for the holy water she'd pocketed earlier. The demon hissed, suddenly jerking slightly as Will's chanting grew in volume. Riley grinned at the demon smugly, her head tilted to one side. The demon's expression changed from panic to malice and she swung a kick into Riley's chest, causing her to fall at the feet of the young man. The man stared down at her, and then back at the demon, before yanking out a dagger. Dazed, Riley tried to move but found that something was holding her down.

Riley struggled against the invisible binds, watching as the witch's apprentice brought the dagger to her throat, the cold metal pressing into her soft flesh. She tried to move, tried to break the hold the demon had on her, but nothing seemed to work. And then her heart stopped as a bloodcurdling scream pierced the air, before giving way to stifling silence. Panic coursed around Riley's body, finally snapping the hold and she kicked both feet up at the young man, knocking him away. Riley rolled over and stared at Will, watching as her body crumpled and hit the floor, the demon grinning over the top of her.

The demon waved and winked at Riley, raising her human vessel's head to the ceiling to escape from the confines of her meat suit. Riley climbed to feet, stumbling forward in her panicked race to get to her best friend, ignoring the sticky sensation that had started to crawl across her neck. She dropped to her knees, pulling Will's limp body up to face her, her fingers probing for a pulse. When she finally found one, Riley let the initial fear subside, her senses and clarity coming back to her. She needed to get to a hospital, she needed to get Will to a safe place, she needed to kill that demon witch and break the hex. She needed ...

Riley grabbed one of many knives she knew would be on Will's person and swung it around when she heard someone step up behind her. A groan told her she'd hit her target and she followed her arm around to glare angrily at the young man who had stood aside and let this happen. He was bleeding from his leg, where Riley had caught him seconds ago, and his eyes were wide with terror. Riley couldn't help but think that it served him right for pledging allegiance to a demon, but knew she couldn't spend her time wasting his ass. Time. There was never enough of it, not in situations like these.

"Dammit!" Riley cursed, standing and grabbing her bag and swinging it over her shoulder as the man stepped back. He was clearly afraid that Riley was going to attack him again, and he had every right to be. "Why the Hell are you still here punk? You should be runnin' any which way you can, away from me and these weapons." She pulled on the duffle bag, turning back to her friend.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." He tried to help Riley pick up her friend, but Riley glared at him. "Wha ... What am I gonna do? I sold my soul ... she'll be back for me ... I mean ... I killed people." His eyes settled on Will's limp arm as it dangled over from Riley's protective grip. "You gotta help me. You gotta save me. Help me get outta this deal."

"No." Riley's eyes narrowed in cold contempt as she looked over at the young man. "If you wanna redeem yourself, I suggest you start by helping out that young woman." Riley tilted her head towards the young woman whose eyes were slowly fluttering open. "You made your bed and now you can lie in it. Run and live out the rest of your life before they come to collect their payment," she added. "Now, I have more important matters to attend to."

There was a moment of silence as Riley headed out the door, the young man turning to the woman he had entered the room with, a sigh breezing through as he went to help her stand. But Riley was already gone, out towards the back of the house where Will had parked the car only hours before. She rushed as carefully as she could, stopping within sight of the Mustang to pull the car keys out of Will's pocket. She wondered how she would get the unconscious hunter into the car, but a whimper stopped her hesitation dead in its tracks.

Five minutes later, Riley was speeding back towards the city center, painful thoughts of the woman behind her crowding her mind as she dodged the traffic as easily as if she were on her bike. She knew that Will would disapprove of the danger that her car was being put through, but Riley didn't care, knowing that Will was in much more danger than the Mustang.

* * *

**Blue Lagoon Motel**  
**Phoenix, Arizona**  
**July 12th 2006, 04:09 AM**

Riley collapsed onto the motel bed, the duffle bag still tight in her hand as she tried to fight back the fear and panic she felt for Willow. She rummaged through the bag, looking for the salt that she needed, making sure to put down the salt lines like Will did every night. As soon as the motel had been protected, she pulled their laptop towards herself, intent on doing as much research as she could, before grabbing a few hours sleep. Her eyes were wide and her body ached, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to fall asleep tonight. She wouldn't be able to rest again until she knew that Will was alright.

The doctors had said that she was comatose, and they were currently trying to find a reason why a young, healthy woman would suddenly go to sleep and not wake back up again. Riley had held her tongue, her concerns increasing as she had her fears confirmed: it was a supernatural reason that Will was refusing to wake up and that meant finding a supernatural cure, or killing the cause of the problem, although the latter didn't always work. And after three hours of watching Will get wired up to many different machines that were required to pump much needed nutrients into her, Riley had silently promised herself and Will that she would find the cure, and kill the bitch that had caused this.

The tapping of the laptop keys was beginning to grate on Riley's nerves as website after website threw up useless information on witches and demons. Riley rubbed her eyes, checking her emails briefly. She was getting desperate and she knew that she was going to have to phone someone and ask for much needed help. Namely phone in Bobby Singer. But whilst she waited for a decent time to phone him, she would carry on raiding books.

"Dammit Will, how'd you let her get the jump on you?" Riley said out loud as she opened an old spell book. A cloud of dust rose out of it and Riley spluttered as she swatted it away. When she could see again, she looked down to see a reference to sending enemies into endless sleep. "Bingo," she said with a smile, flicking the page over and reading it. Her good mood at the discovery began to disappear again when she realized that she had less than forty-eight hours to wake Will. And she needed to find the demon and drag its sorry ass back to the place of casting.

Riley didn't spend anymore time over the books, grabbing her cell phone and jacket on her way out of the motel room. The phone rung twice, before it clicked through to the answering machine. Knowing the routine that Bobby used, she clicked "DISCONNECT" and then redialed the number. This time she went straight through to Bobby, who answered before the phone even had a chance to finish its first ring.

"Hello, who's speakin'?" he asked gruffly and Riley felt a little calmer, knowing that Bobby was there to sort out this mess.

"It's Riley. There's been a bit of trouble and Will's hurt. You gotta help me Bobby, I don' think I can handle this one of my own." Riley rushed to the car and settled down in the driver's seat, reversing carefully as she shifted the phone to her other ear.

"Wha' happened? Is she alrigh'?" Alarm sounded in Bobby's voice, causing Riley to remember that Will was the daughter of a close friend of Bobby's. He cared about her as much as he would do his own daughter. After all, he did practically raise her.

"She's comatose. A witch, or demon witch, or whatnot. She's got forty-eight hours 'til she never wakes up again and I need to get to the demon. But the demon jumped meat suits and that means summoning it again and I can' do that on my own. How fast do you think you can get to Phoenix? Any flights from South Dakota?" Riley was speeding down the road again, chasing after a thought that had occurred to her when reading through the spell book.

"Lucky for you kiddo, that I happen to be quite near Phoenix. Jus' finished a hunt of my own. I'll be with you by tomorrow lunchtime. Don' do anythin' stupid," he added, and Riley couldn't help the small grin that had spread across her face. "I know wha' you're like."

"Sure, sure. No stupid acts. Righ', gotcha," Riley answered, knowing that if Bobby was aware of what she was up to, he would not approve. But she was beyond caring and if there was a chance that she could save Will, she would take it. She checked the dashboard to see if there was any holy water. She found her handgun, and shrugged, figuring any weapon was better then no weapon.

The house where they had begun the night loomed into sight and Riley pressed her foot down harder on the gas pedal, slamming and skidding the car as she rapidly swerved the steering wheel, sliding to a rushed stop next to the front door. Riley tucked her handgun into the back of her pants and climbed out of the car, heading towards the house. Things were beginning to click together in her mind, and she didn't like where this was going. And if it was heading in the direction that she thought it was ...

Riley moved to the room where they had been about to perform the summoning spell and checked it. The table she had landed on still lay in the corner, mangled, Will's pieces of chalk still sat on the dusty floor next to the candles and a dagger lay under the window. Everything seemed to be as she'd left it. Riley's hand inched nearer her gun as she moved towards the make-shift altar, her other hand reaching for the book she'd pocketed on her way out of the room. She opened it to the relevant page and checked the floor.

The diagram in the book was different to the diagram on the floor, and Riley felt her blood run cold as she checked what ritual Will had performed. Riley flicked through the pages, settling on one. It was a ritual for marking and binding, and when Riley picked up Will's discarded ritual book, she saw that someone had changed the pages around, causing her friend to start the wrong ritual. One that would tie her to the demon. Riley tried to wipe the markings from the floor, but she couldn't touch them, or change them in any way. It was like there was a boundary around them.

"Good, isn't it?"

Riley jumped as she looked up, the young man she had failed to kill before standing in her only exit, a crooked, arrogant smirk on his face. It was as she gazed at him that she cursed herself, angry that she had not made the connection before. He was the guy who'd been chatting to Will in the library a couple of days before, leaning over their research to ask if he could borrow a book. She hadn't realized before, too intent on trying to keep Will safe, but now she recognized his distinctive amber eyes. Amber eyes that had changed to black as she stood staring.

"What'd you do?" Riley's hand was around her gun and she was pointing it at the demon, backing away slightly as she weighed her options. The demon grinned and moved with her, stepping forward with deliberate slowness.

"You and I both know that the little peashooter in your hands will do nothing to harm me. In fact, it will do more damage to this delicious meat suit I'm wearing. So go ahead, shoot if it'll make you feel better," he said with a soft voice. Riley knew he was right and lowered her gun, deciding that maybe holy water would have been a better choice. "That's much better Riley. Much better manners."

"How'd you know my name?" Riley asked suspiciously, her eyes still checking the room for an escape. "And what'd you do to Will? You never said." Her eyes drifted back down to the blackened circle on the ground that seemed to be the cause of Will's unconsciousness. The demon chuckled as he looked down too.

"We wanted a little fun. Don't worry so much about it. We enjoy playing with you hunters. And it's always more fun to play with two of you. Oh, the panic that was on your face! It was delightful. And everything that you're going through to try and get her back. Such fun. Do you see why we do it? Ah, but it seems that you don't want to play, do you Riles?" His eyes narrowed and Riley felt her lungs tighten and constrict as he raised a fist.

She couldn't breathe, she couldn't move, she couldn't scream out and she couldn't defend herself. She felt helpless as the last of her air choked out on her lips, falling back against the wall as the demon moved closer. Her hand reached for the gun she had dropped, fingertips sliding from the handle. She managed to pull it towards her, firing a round at the man. The demon's attention was removed from her and Riley made a run for it, only to run straight into the other demon.

"Going somewhere darlin'?" she asked, her hand reaching out to stroke Riley's cheek, before she curled it into a fist. Riley tensed as she was knocked off her feet and onto the floor, the two demons standing over her with malice playing in their eyes. Only one thought crossed her mind as the crushing pressure fell down upon her again.

Crap.


	4. Playing the Danger Game

4: Playing the Danger Game

**Phoenix, Arizona  
****July 12th 2006, 04:34 AM**

Riley looked around at both of the demons, her jaw throbbing with a dulling ache as her mind tried to think of ways to scramble away from the danger, and her lungs burned with an increasing ferocity. She clawed her throat, some mad thought crossing her mind that if she could rip it open, then maybe she could get air. Any which way she could. But her fingers just aimlessly brushed against her already sore neck, trailing down along the raised cut that had been made earlier.

"Honey, stop crushing her. You'll kill her and that's too easy and not fun at all. We wanna have a little fun, give her a sporting chance," the male demon said, with a light laugh. Riley hated the way he looked at her, as if she were a petty plaything. But that was exactly what she was, she thought as the air was returned to her lungs. She moved to her feet and was surprised when they didn't react. Instead, both of them gazed at her, black eyes glinting mischievously. That was worse, she thought. Anger and violence were easy to figure out and easy to confront, but that malicious glint spelled trouble. It spelled that they wanted to mess around and with Will's life in the balance, Riley was sure that she was already at a disadvantage.

"What do you propose darlin'? We should let her try and save her buddy?" the female demon said and Riley grew angry at the rehearsed way their words came out. It was like she had walked head first into a trap and that only added to her annoyance.

"Maybe. Here's what I propose to you, Riley Dante. I propose we let you have your ... " He looked down at his watch. "Forty-three hours to try and save your little hunter friend. If you can't get to us in the next couple of days, she dies and you live with the guilt that you couldn't save her in time. And no cheating. I don't want you to try and pull any little deals with any other supernatural creatures to try and get one over on us. We have centuries of experience on you. The minute you try any dirty tricks, she dies and you get a dose of infinite pain. Understand?"

Riley nodded, unable to say or do anything else. She had the remaining time left to save Will, and her tempestuous determination to do just that. Those demons had no idea what they had just started or who they had just messed with, but Riley was determined to make sure they were on a one-way ticket back to Hell, Will by her side doing the deed with her. The two demons grinned at each other and when Riley next blinked, they were gone, leaving her alone in the room with a foreboding sense of dread. She knew she'd had a lucky escape this time, but that didn't mean she was going to progress more carefully. If anything, her ego had been wounded and Riley was determined to fix it the only way she knew how. By shooting as many supernatural pains in the ass as possible.

She grabbed her handgun and any other objects that she thought would be useful and stuffed them into her pockets. As an afterthought, she took a photo of the altar with her cellphone, deciding to show Bobby later. It flared white through the camera, and Riley could have sworn that she heard screaming briefly, a cry for help that whistled through the old house. She shook her head, feeling chilled as she headed out the door and straight into Bobby. Ah, passed through her head quickly, as she took in his angry expression.

"What the Hell was that about Riley?" he asked, gripping her wrist and pulling her away from the building as if he could protect her by doing just that. Riley felt like a naughty kid, caught stealing cookies with the crumbs round their face. "Why'd you go back there? You coulda been killed."

"I wasn'," she offered lamely, loading up the trunk of the waiting Mustang. It shone brightly in the dim morning light and Riley took as long as she could putting the various books into the trunk, wanting to delay the lecture that she was going to get from Bobby. After putting it off for five minutes, Riley decided to face the music and slammed the trunk shut. She hoped that when she peered around the car, Bobby would be gone or happier, but he was still staring at her with the same murderous glint in his eyes. The demons hadn't killed her, but it sure looked like Bobby would.

"I wasn'," he quoted, following her to the driver's door of the Mustang. "I. Wasn'." This time there was a little less anger and a little more concern in his voice. Riley sneaked a sidelong glance and saw exasperation on his face. "Dammit Riles. Why do you have to be so reckless? You coulda died in there and then we woulda lost both of you. You need to stick aroun' to help me save Will."

"And that's exactly what I was doin' Bobby. I'm not dead. I'm here. And because of my reckless act, I scored some more information. Seems like a win-win situation to me. Are you followin'?" she added, looking around for his pickup truck. She saw it sat in the shadows, just behind the Mustang.

"Riley," he said, warning in his voice. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes, instead opening the driver's door and settling herself inside. The Mustang sprang to life with a deep roar, and Riley grew a little impatient as she felt the vibrations under her fingers, the car waiting to be hurtled down the road. She looked up at Bobby, who was mentally debating whether to carry this on or not.

"Look, you can scold me all you like as soon as we get to the motel. We don' have a lotta time and we need to spend it some place where the books you hurtle at my head are useful. Does that sound fair?" she asked, tapping her fingers against the wheel, her foot itching to floor the gas pedal.

"God, sometimes you are too sarcastic for your own good. Sure I'll follow, just remember you promised me a free shot at your head," Bobby grinned at Riley, who stared up, mouth slightly agape as she tried to find the place in her mini speech that had promised Bobby a free shot.

"I didn'," she shouted after him, almost falling out of the car as she leaned around to try and see him. All she got in answer was a deep chuckle, so Riley slammed the car door shut, strapped in and put the car in gear, brining the steering wheel around full lock so she was already speeding down the road as Bobby was getting into his truck. She flicked the lamps on, and turned up the stereo full blast so that Stone Temple Pilots' _Dead & Bloated_ filled the small space in the car.

The '67 Mustang seemed to enjoy being used to its full potential and Riley smiled to herself as the smell of leather, the sound of the engine and the town lights blurring past mixed together to create her quiet zone. She needed to think this through. The demons had promised that they'd let her have the forty-eight - or less now - to save Will, because there was no try about it. From what Riley knew of demons, there was no way to kill them, so that meant there had to be a way to break the spell. Unless the demons were playing with her further, letting her run around with the belief she could save her friend when really, there was no way to save her and they'd only die in the trying. No, she shook her head, she couldn't afford to waste her energy thinking about ifs and maybes. She would save Will. No question about it.

The motel sign came into view and when Riley checked her rearview mirror, she saw that Bobby had caught up. She made the turn and slid the Mustang into the space in front of their room, climbing out to wait for Bobby to reverse his truck in the space next to her. She went around to the back of the car and pulled out the holy water, along with the spell books, one that had been tampered with, one that was fine. She chucked both to Bobby, who caught them, as she walked to the motel door and unlocked it.

"Summonin' spells?" he asked as Riley went straight to the neglected first aid kit. She'd meant to clean herself up wounds before Bobby'd arrived, but now it was a little late for that. So she gathered the supplies and headed towards the bathroom door. "Hey, Riles, turn 'round kiddo," Bobby requested softly. Riley turned and looked at him, confused. His eyes scanned her face first, then moved down to her arms and legs. "You alrigh'?" His eyes moved to the first aid kit in her hands.

"Jus' a few scrapes Bobby, nothin' to worry 'bout. You start readin' through those books and try and find a way to help Will," Riley replied almost immediately, moving her weight to her left leg as her right one began to ache from standing too long. Bobby didn't look like he believed her, but he returned to the spell book she'd thrown to him and Riley moved to the bathroom.

Once she was in, she tugged her shirt off over her head, tossing it to the corner of the room. She turned and checked out her back first, flinching slightly as she took in all the dark red scrapes that lined her pale skin. She tried to reach around and press a cold compress on her hot skin, but she couldn't reach. She jumped when someone knocked at the door, backing further into the room as the door handle twisted and Bobby walked in, not looking impressed.

"Lemme see kiddo," he said, motioning that Riley should turn around. Flushing dark red, Riley did as she was told, feeling Bobby's calloused fingers run down each of the cuts gently. He picked up the cold compress she'd dropped and set about cleaning her wounds. "Next time I ask if you're alrigh', you tell me the truth. Understand Riley?" he asked, turning away so she could replace her shirt on her back.

"Yes sir," she said in a small voice, leaning towards the mirror to check her neck and her cheek. Her neck wound wasn't as bad as it had seemed at first, and her cheek was starting to blossom a purple mark. She'd have a nice bruise by the following afternoon. A hand landed on her shoulder and she turned to see Bobby look at her sadly.

"You didn' tell them you were hurt at the hospital, did you?" he asked. Riley shrugged nonchalantly, saying more in that small movement then she ever did with her guarded words. Bobby sighed, following her out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. Riley moved to the bed and dropped onto it, pulling a book towards herself, effectively ending the conversation between her and Bobby.

"We were doin' a summonin' spell do bring a suspected demon to us. We had a strong belief that she had been making witchcraft offers to some of the neighboring women and housewives, but we didn' know where to find her. So we took to the most secluded place we could find and then the demon showed. We figured it was 'cos of the spell, but it seems she, they were waitin' for us. I was busy fightin', I didn' see and then, well, Will suddenly screamed and when I looked aroun', she was on the floor. I looked aroun' but the demons had taken off," Riley spoke from behind the book, turning pages carefully as she did so. Bobby wondered would sort of guilty pain he would find in those brown eyes of hers.

"Well, sorry to burs' your bubble Riley, but they sure as Hell don' sound like demons to me. They sound a lot more mischievous then the usual "cut-ya-throat" demons. If you hadn' already said that one of them jumped ship, I'd of said they were Tricksters. But Tricksters don' go to those sort of extremes. They like irony more then games, so you probably had a coupla pseudo-demons on your hands." Bobby picked up a book and flicked to the right page.

"Pseudo what? You mean fake demons," Riley dropped the book onto the bed and looked at Bobby curiously. "How can they be fake demons? You're either a demon, a human or a Trickster, and you've just pointed out they're none of the above."

Bobby slid his book over to Riley and she picked it up, reading through as Bobby started to talk. "Pseudo for fake. We only say fake, 'cos these demons have never seen the inside of Hell and are still partly human, which means that their blackened soul is still attached to their body. They don' have the freedom the typical demon has for movement, meanin' you saw nothin' but an illusion back at the house. They can be killed and that's the only way you can break any of their spell work."

"Right," Riley nodded, looking for all the world as though she didn't understand. "Okay, so how does one become a pseudo-demon or whatnot?" The diagrams jumping up at Riley weren't making a whole lotta sense and didn't look all to pleasant either. She skipped through them, looking for some text or instructions that would explain what to do. Failing that, she looked up at Bobby who had a disgusted expression on his face.

"Well, one would do this. Take an ordinary human and tempt them with the most tempting of sins. Money, love, power, immortality. The whole shebang. Then once the person was hooked, the demon doing the twisting would tempt and tease and bend the human's soul to the shape they want it to be. It takes a helluva long time to do, patience is key, and it takes a very powerful demon to do it. Those two your dealing with are humans who have had their souls twisted and tempted to the darkest depths of humanity, but they can find redemption. 'Cept redemption is mighty painful and once you're in the pits, it's hard to climb back out again. You can only kill 'em with a blessed knife too, dipped in the blood of an innocent," Bobby added.

"Right, let's go then," Riley muttered sarcastically, falling back onto the bed. "You don' happen to have a blessed knife do you? Or an innocent, willing to donate a little of their blood to our cause? 'Cos I'm sorry to report that I am all out of both."

"Shuddup," Bobby retorted, rummaging through the bag he'd brought in. "I do so happen to have a blessed knife. Was a present from Pastor Jim, few years back now he gave it to me. It also happens to be my favorite knife, so if you lose it, so help you Riley." He handed it over to her and she picked it up, turning it over in her hands. She saw holy scriptures engraved into the side of the handle, ones that seemed to change whenever the light hit the handle differently, but the couldn't be, could it? She blinked and checked out the blade instead.

"So how do we go about trapping a human with a demonic soul? Do we lay ourselves out as bait, summon them or what?" Riley sat up, being serious now. Bobby could see the determination in her eyes and it pained him. He hated to see that she would stop at nothing to get what she wanted, even if it was for a good cause like saving Will. The only problem with causes like that, with relationships like that, was sometimes people didn't know where to draw the line. Didn't know where to stop and save themselves. Stop and let a good thing go. But the only thing he could do in this circumstance was make sure Riley didn't hurt herself, saving Will.

"Dunno. 'Suppose we should take a look aroun' town. I doubt they'd fall for bait or a summons, since they let you walk out to play their game. They ain' gunna make it easy for you. You're gunna have to think 'bout the places they were huntin' within and look there. Or maybe that connection is the key to this," Bobby listed off ideas and Riley felt her chest tighten. If Bobby didn't know where to find the pseudo-demons ... She didn't allow that thought to grow, cutting it off.

"I suppose I better catch some shut-eye then. No point in sitting up wonderin'." Riley checked out the beds, shoving all of the books and their laptop onto the floor. She kicked her shoes off and lay back, staring at the ceiling.

_I'll save you Will, if it's the last thing I do, s_he promised silently.

* * *

**Front Memorial Park**  
**Phoenix, Arizona**  
**July 12th 2006, 12:02 PM**

Riley had been looking around the park for half an hour and, so far, all she'd found were chattering mothers, playing with their children in the playground. She had watched for a while, from the shade of the trees. The heat shimmered in the air and she felt sticky pinpricks of water trickle down her neck. She pulled her phone out, checking for a new message from Bobby for the hundredth time, but there was nothing. He couldn't have found anything at the bar, otherwise he would have phone. Riley sighed and shoved her phone back in her pocket.

The children screamed and laughed loudly, their excitement carrying across the short distance between the swings and the trees. Riley tilted her head to one side, remembering a time when her Dad used to push her on the swings, climbing higher and higher until she jumped off at the highest peak, landing on the tarmac, scraping her knees. He'd laugh and they'd go for ice cream and ... She pulled back from her memories, something seeming off in the park. Some of the mothers' had stopped talking and were watching as a young woman curved a way through their children. Riley looked closely, recognizing the demon from the night before.

"Riley!" she called, the mothers' eyes still narrowed suspiciously on the woman's back as she stopped in front of Riley. "How's your search for us going? Have you found a way to kill us? Or did you just assign that job to Bobby Singer?"

Riley didn't bother wasting her breath asking how they knew Bobby was with her. She knew that there was no point. She also knew that the only reason the demon bitch had approached her was because of the children behind them. She couldn't attack the demon here, out in the open and the demon knew that. "Fine thanks. Think I've got a pretty good idea how to waste your tiny little ass."

"That's nice to know, because I came here to warn you. We'll forgive you for brining Bobby Singer in. You did that before you knew the rules. But no more cheating. Remember what we told you before." The demon leaned casually on one of the palm trees and Riley stared at her, anger shining in her eyes.

"You said not to pull any deals or strings on any other supernatural creature to try and get one over on you. You never mentioned getting help in the form of other hunters. So I haven't broken any rules," Riley hissed through clenched teeth, resisting the urge to pull her knife on the demon there and then.

"True, but hunters aren't exactly _normal_ people, are they now? They have a connection to the supernatural and that won't do. I want you to be utterly alone on your plight to save poor Willow Elizabeth Taylor. But like I said before, we forgive your mistake. But, you have to pay for it. And this is how you'll pay for it." As she stopped talking, Riley's cell phone started to ring. She yanked it out her pocket and stared down at the _Caller ID_. It read _Unknown Number_ and her mouth went dry as she connected the call, holding the phone to her ear.

"Hello?" she said quietly, watching the demon in front of her. She grinned, her hands on both her hips. "Who is this?"

"It's a friend," came the familiar voice of the male demon. Riley's heart pounded harder in her chest, unable to suppress the feeling that she was just a toy in all of this. "I'm with a close friend of yours. Do you want to say hi to her?" Riley heard rustling as the phone was moved towards something, an insistent beeping noise sounding over the phone. She knew where he was. "Will says hi, in case you didn't hear," he whispered in a dangerously low voice.

"I bet she'd say something a lot ruder if she were awake," Riley managed to reply, her eyes still flickering between the she-demon and the playground, wondering what damage she could cause before someone called the police. "What do you want?"

"To show you the sort of connection that your friend and Meredith have now. And it's better this way, she you can actually see who is causing this. Don't worry about Will, I'll be with her the whole time," came the reply.

Before Riley had time to ask what the Hell he was going on about, the female demon raised a hand and clenched it closed, ever so slightly. Riley winced, expecting to feel pain or the crushing pressure from before, but nothing happened. At least, nothing happened to her. From over the phone she heard a loud, high-pitched scream that pierced through her soul. She started shouting herself, shouting down the phone, shouting at the demon, begging them to stop, but the screaming persisted, before falling into almost silent whimpers.

"What did you do?" she asked in a rushed breath, watching the demon's motions. The woman smiled cockily, moving backwards away from Riley. Riley went to move forwards to follow her, but didn't move anywhere.

"Just showed you that Meredith can get to Will wherever she may be. Whether it's in town or in a different state, they hold a special bond. And Meredith can reach into that bond anytime she wants. It also means that she can kill Will wherever she happens to be, so remember that Riley. You have a lot less time now then when we last spoke. Use it well." The phone cut out and when Riley looked around, the park was devoid of all people.

"Dammit," she shouted at the phone, almost throwing it across the park. She was only stopped by the fact that it had just started ringing again. "Hello?" she asked, almost expecting the demon to be phoning her again. "Oh, hi Bobby. Find anything?"

"A couple of trails. Two are outright lays, but the third is genuine. You just gotta know where to push the righ' buttons. What 'bout you? Find anythin'?" Bobby was on the move, Riley could tell by the rustling of the speaker.

"Two friends dropped by. Could you do me a favor and check on Will? I think one of the demons was with her. Check with the doctors and see if she was screamin'. If she was, those demons have had the most of their fun. What was the trail you found?"

"The two demons happen to frequent a spot just outside of Phoenix, in the desert, every full moon. Never missed one yet. And tonigh' just so happens to be the night where they need to be headin' out for some extra curricular activities. I'll check on Will and then meet with you back at the motel," Bobby replied and Riley considered her options.

"No."

"What did you say?" Bobby's voice was dangerously low and Riley almost backed down. Almost.

"I said no. You need to stay with Will and keep her protected. If that demon was with her, then that means anythin' can get in there with her. And you need to make sure she's safe while she's vulnerable. I can handle this alone Bobby. Just tell me where to get the blood," Riley answered, heading towards the black Mustang.

"No way. Will's safe in the hospital and you're just as vulnerable as her. Riley, you better not leave that motel without me."

"Bobby, please, hear me out. I was huntin' on my own before I met Will, and sure, I got into a coupla of scrapes, but I always got out alive. Trust me and keep Will safe. She'll need a familiar face by her bedside anyway, when she wakes up," Riley continued.

"Riley."

"You know I'm right, I can hear it in your voice. You just don' wanna admit it. You know where your priorities are Bobby, so you better get speeding over to the hospital. So, where do I get blood of an innocent," Riley asked, opening the door of the Mustang and sitting in the driver's seat.

"Your blood could probably do Riles. You haven't done anythin' evil or such. It migh' not be as strong, but we don' really wanna be off raiding nurseries, do we?" Bobby sounded resigned and Riley felt bad for putting him through this. "You know Riley, Will may be like a daughter to me, but so are you. We've been through a lot, and I care 'bout you as much as I do Will. As much as I would any daughter of mine. Don' ever think I place you lower on the order with the other hunters who pass through my yard. Understand?"

"I know Bobby." _But I need you with Willow_ ... was left floating, unfinished, as she cut him off. She put her phone on the dashboard, starting the Mustang up.

* * *

**Outside of Phoenix, Arizona  
July 12th 11:30 PM**

The Mustang was parked a suitable distance away, hidden close to the road. Riley was relieved to have hidden the car, but that meant walking towards the small canyon where the demons would be preparing their midnight party. It also meant the only things that Riley had on her were a blessed knife, a shotgun loaded with rock salt and three bottles of holy water, attached to various parts of her body. She felt under armed, but she couldn't do anything else when up against demons. Even if they were pseudo-demons, playing at being the big boys.

Sand blew up into her face, causing her to splutter a little. She cursed, trying to get her breathing right as she headed down the stone path and towards the ritual. She kept to the shadows, her back grazing the rock as she followed it down and down into the crevice. She heard their voices before she saw them, low mumbles of Latin rising up into the still night air. Riley held her breath and readied herself, listening for the opportune moment, before shrugging and running out, her knife ready.

"Riley, I didn't expect you so soon," the male said softly, flicking his wrist so Riley hurtled towards the rock. She yelled as she flew across the confined space, twisting in the air so her right shoulder took most of the force of the blow. She couldn't stop her head cracking off the wall, dizzying pain splitting through her skull as her shaky hands pushed her up from the sand. She looked up at the two demons.

"That's a shame," she managed to gasp. "Must of read the invitation all wrong, 'cos I coulda sworn it said to get here early." She used the stone wall to steady herself, her hand still tightly wrapped round her the handle of the knife.

"Hm, well it's better to be early then late, isn't that right dear?" he said to his partner, both of them advancing on Riley, who quickly hid the knife in the back pocket of her jeans. She reached for her shotgun, managing to fire a round into the male before the female had her hand round Riley's throat. Riley kicked her hard in chest, and fell back to the floor, jumping for her gun.

She reached it and fired another round into the back of the female, who hissed as she hurtled into the wall. Riley grinned at her, but the grin was wiped from her face as she was dragged towards the altar. She struggled, but couldn't break the grip of the demon on her and found herself being bound to a rocky surface. She twisted and turned, trying to make it harder for the demon, but all he did was stop her movements with his psychic crap. Riley groaned, feeling stings as he wrapped barbed wire around her wrists and ankles.

"What's with the fancy metal? Can' you just keep me down with all your mumbo jumbo crap? Or is it to make me look pretty, cos it sure is makin' me feel pretty?" Riley asked innocently, waiting for his concentration to slip so she could try and escape again. The demon looked up, annoyed.

"We need to focus purely on the ritual and cannot waste any energy on keeping a stupid hunter forced down on the floor." He tightened the binds at her ankles and Riley winced, biting back an array of cuss words. "Are you alright Meredith? She didn't hurt you, did she?"

"No," came the close reply of the female demon, something shiny in her hands. "Not as much as she'll be hurting in a minute." She drove it into Riley's side, a little at a time, making Riley squirm away from the pain and the blade.

"Crap," she whispered to herself, panting as the demons turned away to prepare the rest of the ritual. She struggled a little, and found she could move her left arm. She pulled against the barbed wire, biting back the scream as it tore into her wrist. She pulled harder, managing to get free. She used her free hand to find her knife, bringing it up to her wounds and coating it in her blood, before hiding it again.

"Here we go," the female demon cooed, turning back with pliers. "We need to borrow something from you sweetie," she added, but she never got a chance to put the pliers in Riley's mouth. The young woman was already bringing her knife up and shoving it as far into the demon's heart as possible. The demon screamed and the male turned around, shocked.

Both Riley and the male demon watched as the demon crumpled, jerking and flashing a few times as she hit the floor. Once the demon was still, her partner turned back to Riley who was, unfortunately, still tied down to the rock. His face contorted in rage and anger as he rushed at her, and Riley tried to roll away. The result was that she managed to get off the rock and avoid the attack, but she was still attached to the rock. Her already sore head knocked it and she felt a rush of dizziness wash over her again as she tried to pull her second arm free from the barbed wire. She turned the knife around, cutting through it, before pulling her ankles free from the confines.

"How dare you!" Before the male had time to shout, Riley had knocked into him, both falling through the air and landing in a tangled heap on the floor. Riley wiped her knife clean on her pants, getting ready to add more of her blood onto it, but she was thrown from the demon, crashing on her bad side a few feet away. Dazed, Riley did the only thing she knew to do and drove the knife into her leg, pulling it out when the male demon reached her. She lurched forward, forcing it into his chest, before rolling away.

It took a few minutes for her to realize what she'd accomplished, and a few more for her to get up and stare at the two bodies. She leaned against a rock, feeling worse for wear as her phone started to ring. She answered it breathlessly. "Hello?"

"She's awake Riles. Woke up 'bout ten minutes ago. They're checkin' her now for any problems but she's okay. Not a scratch on her. She's askin' after you," Bobby said in a rushed voice.

"Tell her I'll be there soon. I just gotta get rid of all this blood so I don' bleed on the seats of her damn car," Riley replied, before sliding down onto the floor.


End file.
